Dubbed "Police and Resident Interactions: A community-wide Training on Use of Force," the four sessions begin next week and continue through May and are designed to shed light on the policy, according to a press release from the office of Mayor Domenic J. Sarno.

The training will be conducted by Springfield Police Officer Charles Youmans on behalf of the Community Police Hearing Board, which reviews complaints lodged against the Police Department.

"I am going to take them through the levels of force that we are taught from recruitment all the way to veteran police officers," Youmans told CBS3 news in Springfield.

Youmans told the TV station that the forums will hopefully give civilians a better sense of what it's like to be a front-line crimefighter in the city of Springfield.

The Community Police Hearing Board has authority to review civilian complaints involving allegations of improper use of police force, or allegations of violations of departmental rules and regulations in situations in which suspects are physically struck or wrestled to the ground by officers. The board typically reviews cases in which officers use their guns, batons or pepper spray during the course of an arrest.

City officials did not cite any particular instances that may have triggered the training sessions, but Springfield officers have been involved in several use-of-force cases in recent years, including one in which an officer was fired and convicted. Officer Jeffrey Asher last month was sentenced to 18 months in jail after he was videotaped assaulting Melvin Jones III during a 2009 traffic stop.

In another case, authorities are still investigating the Novemeber 2011 police shooting of 18-year-old Tahiem Goffe, who was driving a stolen vehicle that attempted to run down an officer, law enforcement officials have said. The results of a Springfield Police Department internal probe are expected to be handed over to Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni for further review, but it's unclear when that might happen.

In the meantime, the Rev. Talbert W. Swan, president of the Springfield branch of the NAACP, has called for a probe by an independent investigatory body from outside the area.

Another use-of-force incident occurred in June 2011, just days after a tornado tore through the city's South End. Police officers shot and wounded two suspects in an SUV matching the description of a vehicle involved in a prior crime. Authorities claimed the vehicle tried to run down officers. The tense situation happened as the neighborhood was being guarded by military and police personnel due to heavy damage from the June 1 tornado.

The schedule for the Springfield training sessions, all of which begin at 5:30 p.m., is as follows: